760C.60F/230: Telegram
The Ambassador in France (Bullitt) to the Secretary of State
[Received September 22—5:05 p.m.]
1547. The Czechoslovak Counselor this morning showed to Wilson two notes which he was delivering to the French Foreign Office. The first note stated that yesterday the Polish Minister at Praha had demanded the same treatment for the Polish minority in Czechoslovakia as that given to the German minority. The second note advised that this morning the Hungarian Minister in Praha had demanded the same treatment on behalf of the Hungarian minority. The Counselor said bitterly that if only 6 months ago the French Government had informed the Czechoslovak Government that France would be unable, when it came to a show down, to live up to her obligations the Czechs would still have had time to work out some arrangement with Germany. He asserted that the 1925 treaties had been imposed on Czechoslovakia by France at a time when the former was considering improving her relations with her neighbors. Later when Hitler made his non-aggression pact with Poland he had offered a similar pact to Czechoslovakia which would have guaranteed the country for 10 years. This would have meant giving up the French and Russian treaties and the Czechoslovak Government therefore sounded out the French Government. The latter gave the most definite assurances that the alliance with France could be counted upon to the limit. Even 2 weeks ago the Czechoslovak Government had received definite assurances that France’s obligations would be carried out.
The Czechoslovak Counselor, deeply moved, said that his country was threatened with extinction. He spoke of the possibility of Czechoslovakia seeking to join up with Hungary in a sort of dual state.